This invention relates to outdoor barbecue grills and more particularly to a grill having 2 racks supported above the cooking grill on which to keep food warm while the cooking is taking place on the cooking grill.
Outdoor cooking is commonly performed in barbecue grills which are heated either by means of charcoal in the form of briquettes or propane which is stored in high pressure reservoirs and delivered through a regulator to a burner located in the grill. All of these grills typically have a lower housing member within which a bed of charcoal briquettes or a gas burner is supported beneath a food supporting or cooking grill. The grill is typically made of spaced parallel bars in a coplanar arrangement horizontally disposed at the upwardly facing opening at the lower housing member. A upper housing member is typically associated with the lower housing member to provide an enclosure within which the food may be cooked on the above described grill or perhaps on a rotating spit which may also be located within the enclosure. For ease and convenience of operation, the upper housing member is often hingeably connected to the lower housing member so that the upper housing member may be moved easily between its opened and closed positions to insert or remove food.
It is well known to provide barbecue grills of the type described above with warming racks or shelves which may be positioned above or spaced from the main cooking grill and which are designed to receive food which is to be cooked more slowly or merely retained at a warm temperature. Such racks or warming trays are typically formed of spaced parallel bars supported in a horizontal plane and adapted to be accessible when the upper housing member is pivoted to its open opposition. It is regarded as desirable to have the warming rack or shelf positioned above the food cooking grill when the upper housing member is in a closed position and retracted from above the cooking grill, when the upper housing member is moved to its open position. This displacement of the warming rack from above the cooking grill permits the user to have access to the cooking grill for loading and removing food. Examples of patents disclosing barbecue grills having such warming racks or shelves are the Winters U.S. Pat. No. 3,520,290, Bunton U.S. Pat. No. 4,667,652 and Murphy U.S. Pat. No. Des. 291,768.
It is well known in the cooking art to provide means for basting cooking foods with sauces, condiments and the like. It is sometimes considered desirable to maintain the basting liquid at an elevated temperature so that it does not have a tendency to cool the cooking meat to which it is applied. In this connection, attention is directed to the patent to Shaper, et al U.S. Pat. No. 3,527,154, which discloses a saucepan supported on the cooking grill to provide convenient access to sauce for basting the food. Also noted is the Fielding, et al U.S. Pat. No. Des. 296,861. While it is desirable to have a basting dish located conveniently to the cooking grill, it may be considered undesirable to have the basting dish occupy space on the cooking grill which would otherwise be available for positioning food to be cooked.
In providing a warming rack means for a barbecue grill, it is important that it be disposed in a location where it does not interfere with the use of the main cooking grill. It is also important that the warming rack is simple in construction so it adds little to the overall cost of the barbecue grill.